I have often found myself wondering how this award is not sponsored by Max Factor or L’Oreal.

Best Costume Design

The Imaginarium of Doctor ParnassusInglourious BasterdsNineA Single ManThe Young Victoria

For costume design, I have three out of the five real nominees. Basterds gets added because of its scope and costumes for the women. Meanwhile, A Single Man gets added for its dead on fashion of the 1960s and because Tom Ford made it. You know it has to at least look damn good.

Best Art Direction

District 9Inglourious BasterdsA Single ManWatchmenWhere the Wild Things Are

I cannot ignore Mo’Nique’s career altering performance in Precious. The Basterds duo of Krueger and Laurent get my support giving the film a strong female presence. Julianne Moore has replaced Kate Winslet as the actress who always gets nominated, but has nothing on the shelf at home. Lastly, I am recognizing Lorna Raver for her wacky and dastardly turn in Drag Me to Hell. I just gave the horror industry legitimacy.

I feel that Capaldi, Kind, Mackie, and Waltz are self-explanatory. Waltz is easily the most memorable character, with Capaldi in second. The fifth spot came down to Watchmen co-stars Crudup and Jackie Earle Haley. I chose Crudup’s alienated and subdued performance over Haley’s psychotic rendition.

Also, if a claymation possum could be nominated for an Oscar, Crudup gets dropped.

A solid list… Up until you read Liam Neeson as the sixth man. Why Neeson? If you have a role that redefines who you are as actor and it establishes a mindset with pop culture, you have achieved something. After Taken, we all think the same thing when we see Liam Neeson now: Oh snap, Liam Neeson is about to start killing people. Keep in mind, Neeson once played Michael Collins and a psychiatrist in Nell.

Bigelow, Cameron, Reitman, and Tarantino are not strangers to this category this year. I chose Docter over Blomkamp because too often animated films are dismissed as solely a collaborative effort. Docter had a significant hand in every aspect of Up, and it was not a hindrance at all.

So, why did I put Drag Me to Hell here? One, it is a great movie. It makes you experience fear, sorrow, and sheer ridiculousness. Horror is often a genre – like science fiction and fantasy in years past – that gets overlooked. The Exorcist is the only true horror film to get a lot of accolades, which is a shame. Maybe the trend will be reversed someday for films that truly deserve it.